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Is it legal to pay for testimonials of existing users?

by Daniel_Johnson
8 replies
Dear warriors,

I want to start a new membership page and I have decided to start without any testimonials in the sales video. I don't want to take any testimonials because I'm absolutely conviced that it's a great product and I don't want to risk everything because of being seen as a scammer.

This is why I want to collect testimonials by real users:

Is it allowed to pay them for writing a testimonial for example 10 $, providing images 10 $ or recording a video 25 $?

The reviews can be positive or negative: They get their money and they should be honest.

Is it legal or do you have better ideas?

Thank you for your answers.

Daniel
#existing #legal #pay #testimonials #users
  • Profile picture of the author clever7
    I don't know if this is a good idea, even though it is legal.

    I think that most people don't believe in testimonials. I don't believe that their statements can be taken into consideration because it is obvious to me that these testimonials are the seller’s friends…

    Testimonials help you make sales when someone important in your field recommends your product; and not when just anyone pretends to like your product.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tsnyder
    If you pay them you'd better disclose it... if you disclose that the
    testimonials are paid for who will believe them?
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    If you knew what I know you'd be doing what I do...
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  • Profile picture of the author Justin Says
    Paying someone for a testimonial is one of the most scamlike things you can do online :\

    Instead why not offer them a small incentive.

    I don't ask directly for testimonials, instead I let people lead into wanting to record them. The way you can do this is by giving them more than they asked for and then hinting towards it by mentioning others that have done testimonials for you.

    If you haven't received even 1 testimonial, maybe you should really make your product more worth their time. Otherwise the testimonials could moreso hurt you, rather than help.
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  • Profile picture of the author misterkailo
    Lots of paid testimonials go undisclosed.. it's just the nature of marketing online
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeTucker
    I suppose that this depends in part on what part
    of the world you are operating in.

    FTC Publishes Final Guides Governing Endorsements, Testimonials
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  • Profile picture of the author Sweersz
    Sure, it's legal, but I wouldn't trust a website or any business that pays for testimonials. Of course I would have to find this out first. I would just wait for people to tell you how good their experiences are and then ask if you can include them on a testimonials page.

    Paying people to give you good feedback sounds desperate. Moreover, I think people would actually give you good feedback because they know they're being paid.

    Oftentimes when I read testimonials, I am convinced that they were composed by the owner because they sound so cheesy or have common grammar structure and style. I think very few firms publish legitimate testimonials; most of them are out of vanity from what I suspect.
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    • Profile picture of the author Meharis
      I won't be too sure it's legal.

      Meharis
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  • Profile picture of the author James Fame
    Jeezers, there's nothing wrong with giving someone a token of appreciation when they comment about your product. It's a good act, and you can even disclose it. (I'll share how you can do that below...)

    But what IS wrong - is when you're getting fake responses from people who are trying to get what you offer.

    The revised Guides also add new examples to illustrate the long standing principle that “material connections” (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers – connections that consumers would not expect – must be disclosed.
    How about awarding them with an exclusive prize if they send back results of their before and after, with their testimonials? As far as I know, that's a genuine way to be able to get tons of replies. Look at how this company utilized it:


    They gave out insanity T-shirts - in exchange for their results. And the best part? They disclaimed it, as part of their marketing.

    James Fame
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